MADURAI: The Indian men's and women's teams bagged silver medals at the first Asian Dueball Championship held at BBCA ground in Mumbai from December 11 to 13. The 12-member women's team, who were selected by the Dueball Federation of India, included four people, Chennai native Vishnu Sri and Madurai natives Vanavi Aathirai, Mohana and Shalini, representing the state. Of them, Vishnu Sri bagged the best player award and Mohana won the best goalkeeper award. The championship, which was won by Iraq, witnessed the participation of Sri Lanka and India.
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Similarly, in the men's team, three players, Rajasekar (Cuddalore), Manikandan (Villupuram) and Natarajan (Madurai), represented Tamil Nadu. The championship was won by Iraq and saw the participation of India and Bangladesh.
Speaking to TNIE, Natarajan said he was very proud to win silver for India despite challenges. "Dueball is a developing sport. With the victories, both teams have brought laurels to Tamil Nadu as well as our nation. For these matches, we players spend nearly `75,000 individually for participation. If both the state and central governments could extend support by covering expenses and providing government jobs, it would be helpful for us to achieve the next level. We can assure that both teams can achieve a good place in the upcoming World Championship scheduled to be held in June," he said.
Women's team captain Vishnu Sri, who has been taking part in matches for the past four years, said that nearly 18 countries competed in the league match. "Our team showcased remarkable performance. Since it is a developing sport, many northern states have begun promoting the game at university levels. However, the fund crisis is a very big challenge for players from Tamil Nadu. We are planning to meet Chief Minister M K Stalin and Sports Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin to popularise the game in the state and seek further support," she added.
